StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Key Points

• StepStone Group's stock price target was raised by Barclays from $62 to $63, suggesting a potential upside of 7.77% from its previous close.
• In recent trading, StepStone Group's stock rose by 1.8% to $58.46, with a market capitalization of $6.81 billion.
• CEO Scott W. Hart and insider Jason P. Ment recently sold significant amounts of stock, with Hart's holding decreasing by 14.29% following his sale.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by equities researchers at Barclays from $62.00 to $63.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Barclays's target price points to a potential upside of 7.77% from the stock's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also commented on STEP. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.57.

StepStone Group Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of StepStone Group stock traded up $1.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $58.46. 112,145 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 603,457. The stock's fifty day moving average is $57.74 and its 200 day moving average is $56.33. The firm has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.41 and a beta of 1.37. StepStone Group has a 1 year low of $40.07 and a 1 year high of $70.38.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.02). StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 15.21% and a negative net margin of 15.28%. The company had revenue of $237.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $238.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 95.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that StepStone Group will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.28, for a total transaction of $612,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 60,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,676,800. This represents a 14.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason P. Ment sold 55,608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.71, for a total transaction of $3,375,961.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 34,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,073,550.05. The trade was a 61.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 426,144 shares of company stock worth $25,370,101 in the last three months. Insiders own 16.47% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STEP. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in StepStone Group by 269.8% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,962,826 shares of the company's stock valued at $154,748,000 after buying an additional 2,161,548 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,599,875 shares of the company's stock worth $324,122,000 after purchasing an additional 895,521 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,163,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 353.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 661,799 shares of the company's stock worth $38,305,000 after purchasing an additional 515,760 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,419,566 shares of the company's stock worth $387,524,000 after purchasing an additional 481,385 shares during the period. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About StepStone Group

StepStone Group Inc is a private equity and venture capital firm specializing in direct, fund of funds, secondary direct, and secondary indirect investments. For direct investment, it seeks to invest in private debt, venture debt, incubation, mezzanine, distressed/vulture, seed/startup, early venture, mid venture, late venture, emerging growth, later stage, turnaround, growth capital, industry consolidation, recapitalization, buyout investments in mature and middle market companies.

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